Rivet



n F/ m" PATENTED FEB. 16, 1904. J. E. RETTIG. RIVET.

APPLICATION I D JULY 8,1903.

UNITED STATES Patented February 16, 1904. l

PATENT OFFICE.

RIVET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 752,588, dated February 16, 1904:.

Application filed July 8,1903- Serial No. 164,728. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JULIUS E. RETTIG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Reading, in the county of Berks and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rivets; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eX- act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. 7

My invention relates to the marking of rivets, and more especially to rivets used in securing together iron or steel plates. Such rivets should preferably be of the best metal, so as to resist the strains to which they are subjected; but owing to difliculties in identifying the rivets of any special manufacture after they have been put in place it has been found in practice that inferior rivets are frequently used, which, especially in ship or boiler construction, are apt to sheer off or to be otherwise broken, with consequent injury to the parts so riveted.

Hitherto it has been the practice to shape the rivet-heads by a header having an intagliomark cut therein which produces a raised mark on the head of the rivet. This mark is mainly composed of the oxid or scale formed on the outside of the rivet, which is squeezed up into the cut in the header and which is knocked off when the rivet is hammered into place in the structure, thus preventing any identification of the rivet after it has been put in place.

According to my invention 1 use a header having raised letters or other marks thereon, which letters or marks are stamped into the head of the rivet in intaglio, and no matter whether the rivet be heated or not or how hard it be hammered this mark remains permanently exposed in the rivet and may be noted at any time after the rivet is in position holding the plates together.

My invention will be further understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in

which the same parts are indicated by the same letters throughout the several views.

Figure 1 shows a section through the header in which the stamping-plug is mounted. Fig. 2 is an inverted perspective view of the stamping-plug. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the stamped rivets, showing the mark on the head thereof.

The header A, screw-threaded, as at A, to screw into any suitable press, is provided with the ordinary shoulder A to abut against the face of the press. (Not shown.) This header has a shaping-chamber A, having tapered walls a and flat top a. Concentric with the top the headeris counterbored to permit the insertion from beneath of the plug B, which fits snugly in the bore, and above this plug is a central .hole in the header, through which a tool may be inserted for backing the plug out.

It will ordinarily be found unnecessary to provide any means for holding the plug in the header except friction; but any mechanical means, such as a screw in the back of the plug passing up through the opening A may be used, if desired.

The bottom of the plug carries the raised characters 6, constituting the mark, While the top of the plug abuts against the shoulder a in the counterbore, the cylindrical portion a of the plug fitting snugly against the walls of the chamber, so that the plug will not drop out.

The characters 6, as shown in the drawings,

' are the reverse of the letters R X.

In practice the rivet-blank is inserted with its unfinished head in the chamber A in the usual way and the header is pressed down, forming the head of the rivet and at the same time causing the raised characters I) to form intaglio-marks in the driving-face of the head of the rivet. v

From time to time the chamber A has to be redressed, after which is done the plug B would project too much into the chamber A"; but to remedy this the length of the plug is reduced accordingly, thus allowing the face of the plugto be flush with the top a of the chamber A, while allowing the raised characters b to project into said chamberasbefore.

In Fig. 3 the finished rivet C is shown with its cap C and the intag1io-mark R X (indi- 2. A rivet having a character or characters I cated by 0) shown. Of course any other mark impressed into its head below the driving-surmay be used,'if desired. face thereof.

Having thus described my invention, What In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in 5 I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patpresence of two Witnesses.

ent of the United States, is JULIUS E. RETTIG.

1. A rivet having an intaglio character or Witnesses:

characters on the driving-face of the head R. M. PARKER,

thereof. FRED W. ENGLERT. 

